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to waste
Boughton Engineering is coming to the skip-loader market with a new British design in response to operators demands
Boughton Engineering, best known in the waste industry for its hook-loaders, is launching a fresh assault on the skip-loader market with a new design called Power-Reach to be unveiled at RWM (Recycling and Waste Management) exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham on 10-12 September.
Boughton already has two skip-loader marques in its portfolio, Telehoist and Maclift. Both brands were owned by Trio, which was bought by Reynolds Boughton in 2008. Skan Group Holdings bought Reynolds Boughton in 2011, subsequently renaming it Boughton Engineering and shifting its head office to the same Wolverhampton site as Skan's defence business and specialist trailer manufacturer, Oldbury UK.
Boughton already has two skip-loader marques in its portfolio, Telehoist and Maclift. Both brands were owned by Trio, which was bought by Reynolds Boughton in 2008. Skan Group Holdings bought Reynolds Boughton in 2011, subsequently renaming it Boughton Engineering and shifting its head office to the same Wolverhampton site as Skan's defence business and specialist trailer manufacturer, Oldbury UK.
Group MD Richard Skan says: "We've continued to sell Telehoist and Maclift, and they've got a strong following, but they are old designs and have a high manufacturing cost. So we've started from scratch for Power-Reach. We've taken the best bits of Telehoist and Maclift, looked at the competition and talked to the market. We believe we have a winner."
Instead of Telehoist or Maclift, Power-Reach will carry the Boughton name, the first time it has been applied to a skip-loader. "Boughton brand values are well respected in the hookloader market," explains Skan, "so we want to take them into skip-loaders too." Power-Reach 18 is designed for 18-tonne GVVV chassis. "The skip-loader market is probably about 250 to 300 a year," says Rob Brandon, Boughton southern sales manager,
"and the majority of them are 18-tonners."
More specifically, most of them are on Daf's LF55 chassis, so Gary Harrison, Boughton design engineer responsible for Power-Reach, ensured it was a particularly easy fit on the LE So the longitudinals in the Power-Reach sub-frame use the same spacing as Daf's main chassis members, so the mounting brackets are simple flat plates.
"We started by finding out what the market wanted," explains Harrison. "We talked to leasing companies, end users and the workshops that service them." He says payload capacity and speed of operation often cropped up in these conversations. "But fleet managers certainly didn't want extra payload capacity at the expense of durability or paying a lot more for high-strength steels. FEA [finite element analysis] allowed us to take out weight using normal steels."
With a quoted weight of 3,650kg (including all hydraulics and oil), Power-Reach is about 250kg lighter than an equivalent Maclift. "It's been engineered so that we can fabricate it in fewer hours," adds Harrison. "Fleet managers also asked for the shortest cycle time for loading and off-loading skips, but when you do the
calculations the time saved at the end of the day is a few minutes so, in reality, it is not a major issue."
Boughton reasoned that the most valuable time saving would be reducing downtime. "The design focus was on simplicity and serviceability," says Harrison. So, for example, the telescopic stabiliser legs can be withdrawn from their housings for repair by sliding upwards and out via a bolted cover, avoiding the need to get the vehicle reversed onto a pit to withdraw the leg downwards for any internal work. Service hatches have been included for easy access to key elements of the hydraulics. And, wherever possible, items likely to get damaged in the rough and tough world of skip-handling are bolted rather than welded for ease of replacement. Boughton's market research established that its new skip-loader needed several other key elements. First, its telescopic arms, which extend by 1,370mm, must be able to pick up skips from below the vehicle's ground level so that it can work on steep sloping sites and at split-level waste transfer stations. Second, the rear end should be as
short as possible for manoeuvrability. So the telescopic stabiliser legs and their housings are angled and sized for maximum extension and stability within minimum dimensions. And Boughton took a fresh look at the hydraulics. The arms have a safe working limit of 12.5 tonnes when retracted, reducing to 7.5 tonnes at full extension, automatically down-rated by pressure sensors in the arm hydraulics. The sensors also allow faster operation without a laden skip. Both arms and stabiliser legs can be operated independently to counteract camber.
Maclift and Telehoist skip-loaders have hydraulically operated tip-hooks at the rear for discharging skips. "It involves a ram and a cable," says Harrison. "Customers said they don't like it, so the tip-hooks on Power-Reach are pneumatic." The hydraulic controls are on the vehicle's offside but have been designed to accept solenoids to upgrade to wireless remote control should it be required in the future. The controls are modular and can be extended to include operation of the sheeting system. Called Intacova, this too is new and designed as a compatible bolt-on addition for Power-Reach 18, either from new or retro-fitted. Although A Top: Intacova sheeting more expensive than the simpler alternative with system mounts flush spring-operated arms and electric rewind, the double with the side raves, hinged, hydraulically powered arms give plenty of vertical
within the 2.55m overall clearance when laying the sheet over high loads. width limit Intacova has been engineered to fit flush with the side
Above right: Hydraulics raves, within the 2.55m overall vehicle width limit. are extendable to include Although recent changes in the type approval regulations control for the sheeting (EU Regulation 1230/2012) allow sheeting systems to system project slightly beyond 2.55m, Brandon believes Above: Load bed, with accidental damage and the risk of snagging mean it is
removable skip stops better to keep the arms within the vehicle's footprint. and inspection hatch to Brandon is confident that Power-Reach will be well give access to the valve received when unveiled at RWM next month. "We know chest beneath it's competitive on price and weight, and it's designed and engineered to do everything the market wants." •